Jeep Patrol '44

Somewhere in Northern France an intrepid group of US paratroopers patrols the countryside in their Jeep. Note the wire cutting bar that has been added to the front of the vehicle, the heavy loads of ammo boxes and the drivers commandeered MP-40 submachinegun ready for instant action.

The men and wheels are metal the Jeep is resin. I painted these pieces this month.

Beer Run-Orc Style

After a hard day of fighting, looting, fighting, pillaging, fighting and more fighting, Orcs like to hit the Booze like any other warriors. So load up the Wartruck and bring on the beer.

The boys get the normal stuff while the Bosses get the "Flammable Intoxicating Green Homebrew Tequila in the extra strong green barrels," 
 

Nine barrels should starters, at least a dozen more wartruck loads will be needed to get the after battle really going.

I painted the wooden barrels and plastic Wartruck earlier this year.

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Hard Day for the M-3 Halftrack

After a hard day fighting this M-3 Halftrack has had its rear .30 cal. Browning machine gun smashed beyond recovery.
 

While the .50 cal. Browning has lost  a third of its barrel in action.

Battle debris littering the ground testify to the fearceness of the battle.

This is a plastic kit I finished earlier this month.

Red Always Goes Faster-If Your An Orc

Nothing like a fast "Joy Ride" in a wartruck.

Everyone knows that Red Vehicles go fassssteer...whoop whoop!

                                                    Go, Go, Go, nothing can stop us!

Opps, where did that wall come from, well at least its red, just back up and-

                                                  "Weee," here we go again...

This is an old plastic piece from Games Workshop that I found in one of my bits boxes. I painted it yesterday.

Hard Working "Hog"

This "Hog" has been put through its paces by none other than the Super Hero Wolverine.

Through his many adventure's his trusty Harley-Davidson Hog has taken into and out of danger.

It may show its wear and tear, but it is still as reliable as the day it was built.

This Hog is a plastic piece from the Project X set that I painted last month.
 

The Jeep-Best Workhorse of the Allies in the Second World War

 

With at least 640,000 Jeeps made during the Second World War, it's not surprising that they were a common sight in every Allied army on every front. Rugged, well-built and reliable, the Jeep became the new mule/workhorse of the Allies military. Completing every conceivable job from recon to raiding, transporting to towing, ambulance to anti-air, the jeep did it all.

Here we have Pacific Theater USMC Jeep armed with the famous M2 Browning (Ma Deuce) .50 cal. heavy machinegun. Firing a massive 1/2-inch-wide bullet, the Ma Duce has been, and still is, a staple of the US Military since 1933. Effective against infantry, vehicles, lightly armored AFV's, aircraft and small boats, the Ma Deuce has been a popular choice in any firefight. 

The Jeep was a cheap and versatile way to get firepower and supplies to any hot spot on the line. With a speed of over 45 mph (72 km/p), the ability to haul over 1000 lbs. (454 kg) and travel in every combat environment, the Jeep was a welcome addition to any military motor pool.

After the war, many Jeeps became war surplus and served a double duty in the civilian realm. My own Uncle Herb used a Jeep at the Ranch for decades, doing sterling duty on the rolling hills and mountains of the Central California Coast. We still use the Jeep trails that he blazed in the 1940's, '50's and 60's. My favorite saying, he had about his trusty Jeep was "there are only two types of trees on the Ranch...those the Jeep can run over and those they can't...and there are darn few of those it can't."

World War Two Armored Corps (Mixed)

Ready for Second World War Gaming (mostly Bolt Action) are my AFV's (Armored Fighting Vehicles).

Top to bottom-left to right: 2 Russian T-34 85's & 3 IS II's. Row Two, Afrika Korps Mk III, the 6 are American, 2 M-3 Halftracks, M-12 AA, M-6 37mm GMC (Gun Motor Carriage) & a Jeep with 50. Cal HMG, Row Three, M-4 Sherman 75mm, M-4 Sherman 76mm, M-26 Pershing, M-18 Hellcat, Bren Gun Carrier, M-3 Lee, & M-3 Stuart.

Above the M-3 Stuart are four Imperial Japanese vehicles, Shinhoto Chi Ha, Dug in Chi Ha, Type 97 Chi Ha & a Tankette. 

Starting with the USMC camo M-4 Sherman 75mm, then we have four British tanks- Tank Crusier Mk VII Cromwell A27M, Infantry Tank Churchill ARVE 95mm with a switch out Mk IV 57mm turret siting on the engine, Valentine MVII, Crusader Mk VI A15. The lone fighter to the left is a smaller scale P-40 Warhawk.

Many of the AFV's also do double duty as Korean War vehicles.

All the AFV's are plastic/resin kits I have assembled and painted over the last three years. 
 

At Least We Have An Antitank Gun

The Shinhoto was an up gunned version of the Japanese Chi-Ha Medium Tank, even though the Chi-Ha cannon, at 57mm, was 10mm wider than that of the Shinhoto.  The Shinhoto''s gun was a high velocity antitank weapon vs the low 57mm of the Chi Ha's.

Shinhoto's were armed with a high velocity 47mm antitank gun and two 7.7 mm type 97 machine guns. 

The Shinhoto was a desperate attempt by the Japanese to have a tank that could stop Allied armor.

But its weak protection of 33mm (1.3 inches) gave it little chance in a face-to-face meeting with any Allied medium tank.  

The 47mm was most effective vs Allied light tanks like the M-3 Stuart. Yet with less than 940 total units in the Army, the Shinhoto was too little, too few and too late to have much of an influence on the outcome of the Pacific War.

Regardless of its weaknesses, the Japanese tankers consistently showed bravery in every engagement, no matter the odds.

This is a Plastic model I built and painted earlier this month. Check out World Historyprof: Saga of Two Chi-Ha Tanks for more info on how I worked on this tank and its dug in Chi Ha sister.
 

M3 Lee, the Stopgap Tank

In the dark days of the Second World War, the Allies and the US Army needed a medium tank that could be design and built quickly. It needed a more powerful main gun than the 37-40mm pieces currently forming the backbone of the tanks of 1940-41 (apart from the excellent 76.2 mm that equipped Soviet tanks). 

The M3 Lee was the result, with a hull mounted 75mm and turret mounted 37mm guns.  The Lee also carried 2 to 4 .30 cal. machineguns. The British preferred M3's not to have the commanders machinegun turret and referred to this version of the M3 as the Grant.

Protected by up to 51mm (2 inches) of armor, with a reliable engine capable of speeds up to 42 km/h (26 mph); the Lee was the equal or superior to the active Axis tanks of the period.

Its height and sponson main gun location were two of its greatest faults and lead to it being quickly outdated in the European-African Theaters.  

Even so, with more than 6200 built, the Lee/Grants soldiered in a variety of variants, from command vehicles to prime movers, to the end of the war.

The Soviet's especially hated the vehicle, nicknaming it "гравий для Стивена Вонючего" (" A Grave for seven Brothers"). Even so, they continued to be used by Soviet troops in secondary fronts as late as 1944.

This M3 Lee is a resin and metal piece from Warlord that I painted earlier this month. 
 

USMC Halftrack-Armor in the Pacific

The M3 Halftrack, packed with firepower and armor that usually stopped rifle bullets, it was especially effective against the Japanese 6.5 mm rounds.

This USMC M# is in the camouflage sceme for the Island Hopping Campaign of 1945.

Armed with a Ma Duce .50 cal. HMG and up to three .30 cal MMG's, the M3 could laydown a withering amount of fire on the enemy. On the hood is barbed wire while the drive has both a Tommy gun and Springfield rifle in the vehicle to use if he has to exit.

There is a variety of discarded enemy equipment scattered on the ground, as well a captured officers Katana hanging in the back of the M3. 

All the pieces are plastic that I finished last night. This is the final stage of the previous works in progress seen here:

World Historyprof: May Worktable

World Historyprof: Worktable Day Two

World Historyprof: Worktable Day Three